The idea of South America’s biggest metropolis, home to 20m people, lacking something so basic seems fanciful. Yet shortages this year have forced schools to suspend classes and restaurants to shut in smaller towns across São Paulo state, where a fifth of Brazilians live and a third of GDP is produced. For months taps in some neighbourhoods of the state capital itself have run dry, especially in the small hours. Unless the rains are unusually bountiful, a disaster looms in 2015.

Great storytelling. As great storytelling always does, it all starts with a build-up but in the end it all gets connected.

0:44 Amanda describes how she became eight feet tall.
2:08 She talks about getting harassed and yelled.
3:12 She describes what her band did after shows.
6:35 She talks about couch surfing vs. crowd surfing.
7:31 Amanda and her label fight over money.
7:48 A man gives her something that rocks her entire world.
9:05 They experience the most successful musical experiment in history.
10:30 Some Internet trolls try to take Amanda down a peg.
10:53 Amanda describes a semi-NSFW moment where she stripped naked.
11:32 She talks about what musicians used to be and what they’re becoming again.
13:09 People have been obsessed with the wrong question.

“The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France ’s white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country’s military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”

The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.”

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

Punt 2:
Black swan events, and the fact that we continue to rely on models that have been proven fraudulent. – Nassem Nicholas Taleb

Punt 13:
The dearth of desirable mates is something we should worry about, for “it lies behind much human treachery and brutality.” –David M. Buss, professor of psychology at U of T

Punt 29:
The rise of anti-intellectualism and the end of progress. “We’ve now, for the first time, got a single global civilization. If it fails, we all fail together.” –Tim O’Reilly, CEO and founder of O’Reilly Media

Punt 30:
We should worry about several “modern” States that, in practical terms, are shaped by crime; States in which bills and laws are promulgated by criminals and, even worse, legitimized through formal and “legal” democracy. – Eduardo Salcedo-albaran, Colombian philosopher

Punt 63:
“As someone fairly committed to the death of our solar system and ultimately the entropy of the universe, I think the question of what we should worry about is irrelevant in the end.” –Bruce Hood, mondo-bummer

Punt 68:
That big data and new media will mean the end of facts. –Victoria Stodden, computational legal scholar, statistics professor

Punt 69:
That we will spend too much time on social media. –Marcel Kinsbourne, neurologist

Punt 71:
That the gap between news and understanding is widening. –Gavin Schmidt, NASA climatologist

Punt 74:
That we will get our hopes up for interstellar space travel, because it’s not going to happen. –Ed Regis, science writer

Punt 78:
That synthetic biology will spiral out of control. –Seirian Summer, lecturer in behavioral biology

Punt 81:
“We should be worried about online silos. They make us stupid and hostile toward each other.” –Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia

Punt 94:
“We should worry about losing lust as the guiding principle for the reproduction of our species.” –Tor Norretranders, science writer